Sales End Year on Up Note

Sales of single-family, re-sale homes surged in December, up
20.7% from November and up 8.1% year-over-year. For the year, home sales were up
17.2%. Visit the Annual Report for full details.

With the extension, and expansion, of the tax
credit for buyers, we expect sales to be strong through Spring because of the
first-time home buyers tax credit of $8,000 for buying a principal residence.
First-time buyer is a buyer who has not owned a principal residence in the
three-year period prior to the purchase. There are some income limits. For full
information, see:
http://federalhousingtaxcredit.com.

In addition, the tax credit was
expanded to include move-up buyers. The tax credit for move-up buyers is
$6,500. A move-up buyer is a person who has owned and resided in the same home
for at least five consecutive years of the eight years prior to the purchase
date. Again, for full info, see the web site cited above.

P.S. The tax
credit expires April 30th. You need to have a signed contract by then and close
the sale within 60 days to qualify for the credit.

The median price for single-family, re-sale homes was flat at
$370,000, good enough for a 9.1% gain compared to last December.

Inventory rose unexpectedly in December compared to the month
before: up 19.8%, but continued to be lower than last year: down 18.6% compared to
December 2008.

Condo sales were up 9.5%, month-over-month, and were up 3.7% compared to last
December. Year-to-date, condo sales are up 15.1%.

The median price for condos was down 5% from November, but was up
6% year-over-year.

Condo inventory was down 14% compared to last December.

The sales price to list price ratio stayed even at 99.6%. The sales price to list price ratio for condos
fell 0.7 of a point to 99.8%.

Days on market for homes gained two to 66 days. Days on market for condos fell four days to 69 days.

The following chart shows sales and prices since
2003.

The real estate market is very hard to generalize. It is a market made up of many micro markets. For complete
information on a particular neighborhood or for an evaluation of your home's worth, call me.

If you need assistance devising a strategy, call or click
the buying or selling link in the menu to the left.